Naomi and Ruth | Part 2
“...with Naomi and Ruth, we see that Naomi's counsel weighed a great deal to Ruth.”
The word was out. The new girl at KCBT named Lori could really sing! She sang in the Christmas musical, which put her on the KCBT map, but she was already on my map. I was spying her from a distance and was ONLY impressed by the day! She was draped in beauty, chastity, modesty, and pure class! Did I mention that I was ONLY impressed by the day? After talking with the Lord about her, there was at least one other person I had to run this by: Pops.
Pops, also known as Pastor Dave Hill to many, is the man God used to lead me to Christ in 1994. He discipled me and became the only earthly father I've ever known. Knowing what he thought of Lori was significant to the point where had he disapproved, I would not have pursued her. I recognized his place in my life and knew that he would only counsel me from the perspective of desiring God's best for me. To this day, whether solicited or unsolicited, his input carries a great deal of weight with me. As the narrative progresses with Naomi and Ruth, we see that Naomi's counsel weighed a great deal to Ruth. As God would have it, Ruth would have to navigate terrain that would be foreign to her in more ways than one.
As a widow, Ruth was looking to take advantage of a law in Israel that prohibited farmers from completing harvesting their fields (Ru. 2:2; Deu. 24:19-22). Being unashamed of her impoverished state and willing to work to eat (2 Thes. 3:10), Ruth consulted Naomi regarding gleaning in the field, with Namoi giving her consent to go and glean (Ru. 2:2). Little did Ruth know how that counsel would change her life forever. Unaware of God's providence, Ruth found herself gleaning in the field that belonged to Boaz (Ru. 2:3). Through her deceased husband, Elimelech, Naomi was related to Boaz (Ru. 2:1, 3). As a near relative to Elimelech, Boaz was qualified to function as a kinsman-redeemer, which meant that he could redeem the property of Elimelech and take care of the family (Deu. 25).
As God would providentially have it, Boaz, who was of the tribe of Judah, would redeem Ruth, a destitute Gentile Moabite. From their union would come King David and ultimately, the Lord Jesus Christ (Ru. 4:17-22). In this, we see Boaz as a type of the Lord Jesus Christ and Ruth, a type of the Church.
“The counsel of the discipler must be saturated with the mind of Christ.”
What is of discipleship relevance here is the role Naomi played in counseling Ruth through all of this. As we saw, Naomi counseled Ruth to go and glean in the field (Ru. 2:2), but as God's plan began to unfold, Naomi's counsel would prove to become even more critical to Ruth. As disciplers, we must understand the gravity of counseling and guiding in discipleship. It is impossible to disciple someone without counseling them. This hits home when you consider Ruth's response to Naomi's counsel:
Ruth 3:5 And she said unto her, All that thou sayest unto me I will do.
When true discipleship is happening, as the discipleship process progresses, the influence of the discipler becomes greater. Their counsel to the disciple carries a lot of weight. Therefore, it is imperative for disciplers to be sound in counseling during the discipleship process. Our counsel must be above all, biblical, not personal. In other words, when a disciple takes a Ruth position toward our counsel ("...All that thou sayest unto me I will do"), our personal opinions, preferences, and convictions, become invalid in our counsel. The counsel of the discipler must be saturated with the mind of Christ.
Without Naomi's counsel, Ruth would not have known the law of the kinsman-redeemer (Ru. 2:20) or how to present herself in marriage to her kinsman-redeemer, Boaz, in a humble and submissive way (Ru. 3:3-11). And Naomi's counsel to "sit still" while Boaz followed the proper biblical channels to secure Ruth as his wife (Ru. 3:18), would have been invaluable to Ruth at that time (Psa. 46:10). It is important to note that Naomi's counsel had an eternal impact (Matt. 1:5).
Disciplers must respect the principle which says, "We cannot give people something we do not have." When it comes to counseling, wisdom is the principal thing (Pro. 4:7). That is, it is everything! But if we do not have wisdom, we cannot provide wise counsel, which means the counsel we provide would be to the detriment of the disciple.
